Mega Man X: Command Mission
Encyclopedia
Mega Man X: Command Mission, known in Japan
as , is a video game developed by Capcom
for the PlayStation 2
(PS2) and Nintendo GameCube
. The game is a spin-off of the Mega Man X
series of titles. It was first released in Japan on July 29, 2004, with releases in North America and Europe following that September and November.
Mega Man X: Command Mission take place in the 23rd century
, when a metallic substance called "Force Metal" is discovered that revolutionizes engineering for "Reploids", humanoid androids with human-level intelligence. When an assault on a Force Metal mining island occurs, a "Maverick Hunter" team led by Mega Man X is sent out in response. Command Mission differs from previous entries in the series in that it is a turn-based role-playing game
(RPG) rather than an action
-platform game
. Force Metal can be equipped to each playable character to gain special abilities.
The game was developed by many of the team members who previously worked on Capcom's Breath of Fire
series of RPGs. According to the producer of Command Mission, a plot-focused RPG based on the Mega Man X games was created because the series is well known for its action and storyline. Command Mission was met with a mostly average critical response. Reviewers generally praised its battle system, but disagreed about its other aspects.
("22XX AD"), about 100 years after the events of other games in the Mega Man X series. A new substance known as "Force Metal" is extracted from the debris of a small meteorite. Technology based on the metal revolutionizes the field of Reploid Engineering. Giga City, an artificial island in the middle of an ocean, is built purposely for the mining and smelting of Force Metal. Everything is well until a band of Reploids arm themselves and launch an assault on the island. Its leader, Epsilon, is branded a "Maverick" by the government, and a "Maverick Hunter" team is dispatched by Colonel Redips to Giga City in order to liberate it from the grasp of Epsilon's "Rebellion". As Mega Man X, Zero
, and a Hunter named Shadow travel to the ruins, a collapsed pillar separates them. X must then fight his way to a place where he and Zero are reunited. Upon reaching Epsilon's destination, Shadow betrays the team, Epsilon's Cadre appears and knocks Zero away. X has no choice but to escape and gather a resistance team to assist in defeating the minions of the Liberion Army. It is later revealed that Epsilon is not a Maverick, but rather that Redips is, and that he and the presumably deceased Spider are one and the same. X and his friends chase him to the top of the tower where he uses the Force Metal to take on a god-like form. Luckily for X's team, one of Epsilon's commanders, Ferham, helps the group by removing part of the Force Metal from Redips, giving X and company a chance to defeat him.
-platformers
of the Mega Man X series, Mega Man X: Command Mission is a turn-based RPG
. The game follows a narrative that forces the player to go to the different stages in order, which abandons the stage select feature of many Mega Man X games. The action is split between a field screen and a battle screen, with the player always in the center of the field of view and with a map of the surrounding area in the bottom-right hand corner of the screen. Player spend their time in one of the situations described below. The hub area linked to Central Tower. From here, players transfer to the different Adventure Stages. They can visit previously completed Adventure Stages, as well as ones vital to progressing through the story. Similar to other Mega Man X
games, stages are spread around Giga City, which have to be cleared to progress through the story. Most of the time, the adventure stages are "empty", with enemies appearing randomly throughout the level as with traditional RPGs.
Throughout the game, the player may come across abandoned robots. Collecting them enables the player to deploy robots to Adventure Stages, where they can then search for money, information, data or rare items. Some robots may require special parts in order to be used. As with many RPGs, characters or enemies can be induced to enter different states of affliction that may affect their performance during battle. These status effects can all be healed by "Cure One," or "Cure All" except "DOA". Some names were changed due to the fact the characters are machines. The game features the appearance of Force Metals, special alloys from meteorites that fell from outer space. Reploids and robots equipped with Force Metals gain special abilities, however, the energy that these metals exude may have unwanted side effects if the character is overloaded past force metal tolerance. X and his companions can equip these Force Metals, which can be made from special recipes collected from Deployment Missions. However, they can only equip a certain number of Force Metals. They give Reploids special abilities. Exceeding the amount they can equip may lead to them becoming Maverick, which results in them starting battle with random afflictions including but not limited to the above. Finally, some Force Metals may cancel out the side-effects when equipped.
There are a few differences between the GameCube and PlayStation 2 versions of the game. The GameCube version makes use of the Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Advance Cable, in which players can connect a Game Boy Advance
(GBA) to the GameCube, enabling the use of a special radar function to find secret items. A radar screen appears on the GBA screen, showing the immediate area around the player, the direction the player is facing and the location of any hidden items. The frequency of enemy encounters is higher in the GameCube version. Also, if a player takes too many turns to defeat an enemy, they experience penalties far quicker in the GameCube version than in the PlayStation 2 version.
and many of the team members that worked on Mega Man X7
and Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
. Long-time producer and artist Keiji Inafune
had always viewed the Mega Man X series in the action genre. He flatly refused when it was requested that he make it into an RPG. When asked why the team chose to make Mega Man X into an RPG, producer Tatsuya Kitabayashi explained, "Mega Man X is respected as an action game, but also has a good story. So we've decided to focus on the story, which is why I'm creating an RPG based on Mega Man X." Kitabayashi considered Command Mission a sequel rather side-story or the beginning of a new series because the plot is complete at the end of the game.
Based on their experience with the Breath of Fire series, the team created a new battle system for the game but found it difficult. "It's really difficult to create a battle mode system," Kitabayashi ellaborated. "Mega Man has been about jumping and shooting in an action setting, so I needed to add a new system for this game. It was quite difficult to create something that is action-like but still has an RPG-like fighting mode." When the game's production began, the Hyper Mode was exclusive to the playable characters X and Zero. However, because this gave them too large of an advantage over other party members, all other characters were given one Hyper Mode while X and Zero were given two each. The development also decided not to include a New Game Plus
option because the game is an RPG rather than an action game
. Instead, they included incredibly difficult, secret bosses that were originally part of the storyline.
Ryuji Higurashi, a veteran artist of the Mega Man X series, acted as the game's chief character designer. When he learned that the game was take place in 22XX, the same time period as the Mega Man Zero
series, Higurashi added several features to his designs to Command Mission to reflect their relation. However, he was initially, somewhat sceptical about the changes requested for the character X. The game's musical score was composed by Shinya Okada, Yuko Komiyama, and Seiko Kobuchi. A total of 58 tracks were compiled and released on a CD soundtrack by Suleputer
in Japan on September 23, 2004. The game's opening theme, "Passionate Moment", and its closing theme, "Parts", are both sung by Asami Abe
. Each song received a CD single
release by Universal Japan
on August 4, 2004. Mega Man X: Command Mission was first announced and presented by producer Koji Nakajima at the Tokyo Game Show
in September 2003. The North American PS2 version includes an unlockable demo version of Mega Man X8
. To coincide with the release the launch of the game in North America, NubyTech announced Mega Man-themed game controllers
for both versions of the game. However, only the GameCube version of the controller was released and not until the Mega Man X Collection
arrived in the region in early 2006.
, while the GameCube version holds slightly lower scores of 68% and 67 out of 100 respectively. The battle system has generally praised, with the concept of pressing combinations of buttons to pull off techniques or improve a technique's power said to be one of the game's highlights. A common complaint has been the short length and linearity of the game. One reviewer stated that the game was "too far on the easy side". Though reviewers liked the cel-shaded and colorful look of the game, Phil Theobald of GameSpy noted that "most of the environments tend to be rather bland and end up looking a lot alike."
The differences between the two versions of Command Mission did not warrant much of a response from critics, with similar aggregate review scores on GameRankings, though the PS2 version is slightly higher. IGN does prefer the GameCube version slightly more and gave it a higher score for having a slightly more consistent frame rate
, marginal improvements in graphics, and faster loading times. GameSpot agreeably called the GameCube version "a bit crisper". However, the two versions of Command Mission garnered different sales numbers in Japan. According to Famitsu
, the PS2 version sold 36,635 units, making it the 312th best-selling game in the region for 2004. The GameCube version sold about half as much (18,599 units), making it the 460th best-selling game in Japan for that year.
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
as , is a video game developed by Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
for the PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2
The PlayStation 2 is a sixth-generation video game console manufactured by Sony as part of the PlayStation series. Its development was announced in March 1999 and it was first released on March 4, 2000, in Japan...
(PS2) and Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
. The game is a spin-off of the Mega Man X
Mega Man X
The Mega Man X series is the second Mega Man franchise released by Capcom. It debuted December 17, 1993 in Japan on the Super NES/Super Famicom and spawned sequels on several systems, with the PC platform notably having the most releases within the series...
series of titles. It was first released in Japan on July 29, 2004, with releases in North America and Europe following that September and November.
Mega Man X: Command Mission take place in the 23rd century
23rd century
The 23rd century is the century of the Christian Era or Common Era which, in the Gregorian calendar, begins on January 1, 2201 and ends on December 31, 2300.-List of the long total solar eclipses:* July 27, 2204: Solar eclipse, , of saros 139....
, when a metallic substance called "Force Metal" is discovered that revolutionizes engineering for "Reploids", humanoid androids with human-level intelligence. When an assault on a Force Metal mining island occurs, a "Maverick Hunter" team led by Mega Man X is sent out in response. Command Mission differs from previous entries in the series in that it is a turn-based role-playing game
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
(RPG) rather than an action
Action game
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
-platform game
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
. Force Metal can be equipped to each playable character to gain special abilities.
The game was developed by many of the team members who previously worked on Capcom's Breath of Fire
Breath of Fire
-Mobile games:Beginning in November 2003, Capcom began releasing Breath of Fire titles specifically for mobile phone devices in Japan. Each game was developed for use on NTT DoCoMo, au, and SoftBank brand cellphones that use the i-mode, EZWEB, or BREW services...
series of RPGs. According to the producer of Command Mission, a plot-focused RPG based on the Mega Man X games was created because the series is well known for its action and storyline. Command Mission was met with a mostly average critical response. Reviewers generally praised its battle system, but disagreed about its other aspects.
Plot
Mega Man X Command Mission take place during an unspecific year in the 23rd century23rd century
The 23rd century is the century of the Christian Era or Common Era which, in the Gregorian calendar, begins on January 1, 2201 and ends on December 31, 2300.-List of the long total solar eclipses:* July 27, 2204: Solar eclipse, , of saros 139....
("22XX AD"), about 100 years after the events of other games in the Mega Man X series. A new substance known as "Force Metal" is extracted from the debris of a small meteorite. Technology based on the metal revolutionizes the field of Reploid Engineering. Giga City, an artificial island in the middle of an ocean, is built purposely for the mining and smelting of Force Metal. Everything is well until a band of Reploids arm themselves and launch an assault on the island. Its leader, Epsilon, is branded a "Maverick" by the government, and a "Maverick Hunter" team is dispatched by Colonel Redips to Giga City in order to liberate it from the grasp of Epsilon's "Rebellion". As Mega Man X, Zero
Zero (Mega Man)
is a video game character present throughout the Mega Man franchise. First appearing in the 1993 game Mega Man X for the Super Nintendo, Zero has since been the star of the Mega Man Zero series and has played a supporting role in other game series such as the Mega Man ZX series.First developed by...
, and a Hunter named Shadow travel to the ruins, a collapsed pillar separates them. X must then fight his way to a place where he and Zero are reunited. Upon reaching Epsilon's destination, Shadow betrays the team, Epsilon's Cadre appears and knocks Zero away. X has no choice but to escape and gather a resistance team to assist in defeating the minions of the Liberion Army. It is later revealed that Epsilon is not a Maverick, but rather that Redips is, and that he and the presumably deceased Spider are one and the same. X and his friends chase him to the top of the tower where he uses the Force Metal to take on a god-like form. Luckily for X's team, one of Epsilon's commanders, Ferham, helps the group by removing part of the Force Metal from Redips, giving X and company a chance to defeat him.
Gameplay
Unlike the actionAction game
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
-platformers
Platform game
A platform game is a video game characterized by requiring the player to jump to and from suspended platforms or over obstacles . It must be possible to control these jumps and to fall from platforms or miss jumps...
of the Mega Man X series, Mega Man X: Command Mission is a turn-based RPG
Role-playing video game
Role-playing video games are a video game genre with origins in pen-and-paper role-playing games such as Dungeons & Dragons, using much of the same terminology, settings and game mechanics. The player in RPGs controls one character, or several adventuring party members, fulfilling one or many quests...
. The game follows a narrative that forces the player to go to the different stages in order, which abandons the stage select feature of many Mega Man X games. The action is split between a field screen and a battle screen, with the player always in the center of the field of view and with a map of the surrounding area in the bottom-right hand corner of the screen. Player spend their time in one of the situations described below. The hub area linked to Central Tower. From here, players transfer to the different Adventure Stages. They can visit previously completed Adventure Stages, as well as ones vital to progressing through the story. Similar to other Mega Man X
Mega Man X
The Mega Man X series is the second Mega Man franchise released by Capcom. It debuted December 17, 1993 in Japan on the Super NES/Super Famicom and spawned sequels on several systems, with the PC platform notably having the most releases within the series...
games, stages are spread around Giga City, which have to be cleared to progress through the story. Most of the time, the adventure stages are "empty", with enemies appearing randomly throughout the level as with traditional RPGs.
Throughout the game, the player may come across abandoned robots. Collecting them enables the player to deploy robots to Adventure Stages, where they can then search for money, information, data or rare items. Some robots may require special parts in order to be used. As with many RPGs, characters or enemies can be induced to enter different states of affliction that may affect their performance during battle. These status effects can all be healed by "Cure One," or "Cure All" except "DOA". Some names were changed due to the fact the characters are machines. The game features the appearance of Force Metals, special alloys from meteorites that fell from outer space. Reploids and robots equipped with Force Metals gain special abilities, however, the energy that these metals exude may have unwanted side effects if the character is overloaded past force metal tolerance. X and his companions can equip these Force Metals, which can be made from special recipes collected from Deployment Missions. However, they can only equip a certain number of Force Metals. They give Reploids special abilities. Exceeding the amount they can equip may lead to them becoming Maverick, which results in them starting battle with random afflictions including but not limited to the above. Finally, some Force Metals may cancel out the side-effects when equipped.
There are a few differences between the GameCube and PlayStation 2 versions of the game. The GameCube version makes use of the Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Advance Cable, in which players can connect a Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
(GBA) to the GameCube, enabling the use of a special radar function to find secret items. A radar screen appears on the GBA screen, showing the immediate area around the player, the direction the player is facing and the location of any hidden items. The frequency of enemy encounters is higher in the GameCube version. Also, if a player takes too many turns to defeat an enemy, they experience penalties far quicker in the GameCube version than in the PlayStation 2 version.
Development
Mega Man X: Command Mission was developed by Capcom Production Studio 3Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
and many of the team members that worked on Mega Man X7
Mega Man X7
Mega Man X7, known as in Japan, is a video game developed by Capcom for the PlayStation 2 console. It is the seventh main game in the Mega Man X series and the first in the series to appear on the sixth generation of gaming consoles...
and Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter
Breath of Fire: Dragon Quarter, known in Japan as , is a PlayStation 2 game originally released on November 14, 2002. It is the fifth role-playing game in the Breath of Fire series.-Gameplay:...
. Long-time producer and artist Keiji Inafune
Keiji Inafune
is a video game producer and illustrator. He was the former head of Research & Development and Online Business and Global Head of Production at Capcom, best known as the illustrator and co-designer of the character Mega Man, as well as the producer of the Onimusha and Dead Rising video game series...
had always viewed the Mega Man X series in the action genre. He flatly refused when it was requested that he make it into an RPG. When asked why the team chose to make Mega Man X into an RPG, producer Tatsuya Kitabayashi explained, "Mega Man X is respected as an action game, but also has a good story. So we've decided to focus on the story, which is why I'm creating an RPG based on Mega Man X." Kitabayashi considered Command Mission a sequel rather side-story or the beginning of a new series because the plot is complete at the end of the game.
Based on their experience with the Breath of Fire series, the team created a new battle system for the game but found it difficult. "It's really difficult to create a battle mode system," Kitabayashi ellaborated. "Mega Man has been about jumping and shooting in an action setting, so I needed to add a new system for this game. It was quite difficult to create something that is action-like but still has an RPG-like fighting mode." When the game's production began, the Hyper Mode was exclusive to the playable characters X and Zero. However, because this gave them too large of an advantage over other party members, all other characters were given one Hyper Mode while X and Zero were given two each. The development also decided not to include a New Game Plus
New Game Plus
A New Game Plus is an unlockable video game mode that allows the player to start a new game after they finish the game at least once, where certain aspects of the finished game, such as experience or items, affect the newly started game...
option because the game is an RPG rather than an action game
Action game
Action game is a video game genre that emphasizes physical challenges, including hand–eye coordination and reaction-time. The genre includes diverse subgenres such as fighting games, shooter games, and platform games, which are widely considered the most important action games, though some...
. Instead, they included incredibly difficult, secret bosses that were originally part of the storyline.
Ryuji Higurashi, a veteran artist of the Mega Man X series, acted as the game's chief character designer. When he learned that the game was take place in 22XX, the same time period as the Mega Man Zero
Mega Man Zero
The Mega Man Zero series, known as in Japan, is the series succeeding the Mega Man X story-line, and the fifth series in Capcom's Mega Man video game franchise, co-produced by Keiji Inafune, and directed by Mega Man Legends series director Yoshinori Kawano...
series, Higurashi added several features to his designs to Command Mission to reflect their relation. However, he was initially, somewhat sceptical about the changes requested for the character X. The game's musical score was composed by Shinya Okada, Yuko Komiyama, and Seiko Kobuchi. A total of 58 tracks were compiled and released on a CD soundtrack by Suleputer
Suleputer
Suleputer is a record label the Japanese game development company Capcom uses for its releases. Its name derives from the full name of Capcom: " ".-Discography:*Biohazard 2 ReMIX ~met@morPhoses~...
in Japan on September 23, 2004. The game's opening theme, "Passionate Moment", and its closing theme, "Parts", are both sung by Asami Abe
Asami Abe
is a Japanese singer and actress, also known as the younger sister of pop idol Natsumi Abe. She started her career doing commercials for Nintendo Puzzle Collection, and she has also appeared in a few TV dramas....
. Each song received a CD single
CD single
A CD single is a music single in the form of a standard size Compact Disc, not to be confused with the 3-inch CD single, which uses a smaller form factor. The format was introduced in the mid-1980s, but did not gain its place in the market until the early 1990s...
release by Universal Japan
Universal Music Group
Universal Music Group is an American music group, the largest of the "big four" record companies by its commanding market share and its multitude of global operations...
on August 4, 2004. Mega Man X: Command Mission was first announced and presented by producer Koji Nakajima at the Tokyo Game Show
Tokyo Game Show
The , commonly known as TGS, is a video game expo / convention held annually in the Makuhari Messe, in Chiba, Japan. It is presented by the Computer Entertainment Supplier's Association and the Nikkei Business Publications, Inc...
in September 2003. The North American PS2 version includes an unlockable demo version of Mega Man X8
Mega Man X8
Mega Man X8, known as in Japan, is a video game developed by Capcom for the PlayStation 2 console. It is the eighth game in the Mega Man X series and the most recently released game in that series. It was first released in North America on December 7, 2004...
. To coincide with the release the launch of the game in North America, NubyTech announced Mega Man-themed game controllers
Gamepad
A gamepad , is a type of game controller held in two hands, where the digits are used to provide input. Gamepads generally feature a set of action buttons handled with the right thumb and a direction controller handled with the left...
for both versions of the game. However, only the GameCube version of the controller was released and not until the Mega Man X Collection
Mega Man X Collection
Mega Man X Collection is a compilation of video games developed by Capcom. It was released on January 10, 2006 exclusively in North America for the Nintendo GameCube and Sony PlayStation 2 platforms...
arrived in the region in early 2006.
Reception
Mega Man X: Command Mission was met with a mostly mediocre response from critics. The PS2 version currently holds a 69% on GameRankings and a 69 out of 100 on MetacriticMetacritic
Metacritic.com is a website that collates reviews of music albums, games, movies, TV shows and DVDs. For each product, a numerical score from each review is obtained and the total is averaged. An excerpt of each review is provided along with a hyperlink to the source. Three colour codes of Green,...
, while the GameCube version holds slightly lower scores of 68% and 67 out of 100 respectively. The battle system has generally praised, with the concept of pressing combinations of buttons to pull off techniques or improve a technique's power said to be one of the game's highlights. A common complaint has been the short length and linearity of the game. One reviewer stated that the game was "too far on the easy side". Though reviewers liked the cel-shaded and colorful look of the game, Phil Theobald of GameSpy noted that "most of the environments tend to be rather bland and end up looking a lot alike."
The differences between the two versions of Command Mission did not warrant much of a response from critics, with similar aggregate review scores on GameRankings, though the PS2 version is slightly higher. IGN does prefer the GameCube version slightly more and gave it a higher score for having a slightly more consistent frame rate
Frame rate
Frame rate is the frequency at which an imaging device produces unique consecutive images called frames. The term applies equally well to computer graphics, video cameras, film cameras, and motion capture systems...
, marginal improvements in graphics, and faster loading times. GameSpot agreeably called the GameCube version "a bit crisper". However, the two versions of Command Mission garnered different sales numbers in Japan. According to Famitsu
Famitsu
is a line of Japanese video game magazines published by Enterbrain, Inc. and Tokuma. Currently, there are five Famitsū magazines: Shūkan Famitsū, Famitsū PS3 + PSP, Famitsū Xbox 360, Famitsū Wii+DS, and Famitsū Wave DVD...
, the PS2 version sold 36,635 units, making it the 312th best-selling game in the region for 2004. The GameCube version sold about half as much (18,599 units), making it the 460th best-selling game in Japan for that year.